Remote Sensing for Water Resource Management in the Aral Sea Basin (Talk by Dr. Christopher Conrad, DLR)

Abstract

The efficient and sustainable use of water is one of the major challenges in the Aral Sea Basin, which is  shared by five young nations (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan) and Afghanistan. The post-Soviet political situation has increased the misbalance of water availability and water demand. The presentation will give an overview on the ecological, economic, and political dimensions of the present water management problems in the region. A special focus is set to remote sensing applications for monitoring irrigation systems which can contribute for analysing and optimizing land and water use in that region. Results and concepts of two projects are presented (German-Uzbek Khorezm Project, CAWa - Central Asian Water Project).